I thoroughly enjoyed Gavin and Andrew chatting on the pod after the Foundation of Light’s fixture release breakfast and chuckled when they said that all these matches were on a Saturday at 3pm – except they’re not. They’ll be all over the place. That got me thinking about the whole fixture-setting process and its impact on football supporters, which brings me to what may become a bit of a rant. When you get older, though, and your memory is still functioning (to a degree!), these are the inevitable
musings on whether things were better back in the day.
A further impetus for these considerations was the fact that I slowly developed an increasing interest in local non-league football. For a while, I could only manage the occasional visit to the Stadium of Light or an away League Cup game, so I was persuaded to go along and watch Workington AFC (Workington Reds), which slowly became a bit of a habit. Life has changed now, and I can get across to the North East more regularly again, but I still go to watch the Reds whenever I can, don’t miss many home matches, and fit in the odd away day.
My reason for talking about non-league football is simple – fixtures are set in the summer and that is that, unless, of course, there is a cup clash or bad weather. I appreciate knowing that the match will kick off at 3pm on a Saturday or 7.45pm on a Tuesday.
And that is exactly how it used to be when I first started going to professional football – Roker Park at 3pm on a Saturday or 7.30pm on a Tuesday. It was even quite a change when evening games began to kick off 15 minutes later in the 1990s! The status quo was soon to change, although it might surprise some people that attempts were made back in the 1960s to show live football with altered kick-off times. Deals were struck, broken, and fans had to make do with highlights programmes instead.
Tyne Tees Television was actually the first regional broadcaster to show highlights (of North East football only) in 1962/63 in the programme Shoot. It aired on a Sunday afternoon. Sadly, I can still remember the theme tune.
The demand for live televised football grew steadily following England’s success in 1966 and various deals were made. There was even an experiment with pay-per-view broadcasting. The popularity of live football rose quickly, particularly throughout the 1980s, resulting in a huge rise in the value of television rights.
The BBC showed more live FA Cup games from the third round onwards, while ITV covered live league games on Sunday afternoons. Then everything changed in 1992 with the birth of the Premier League and its deal with Sky. Football no longer belonged solely to the FA or the clubs.
And the fans? Does any media mogul or senior football executive really care about the fans? It seems to me that supporters were left behind in all of these negotiations, yet without them the product is undoubtedly diminished.
It is impossible for me to write about fixture schedules from the perspective of a younger person who has grown up in this brave new football-broadcasting world because I remember how it used to be. However, very few would argue there is any logic – or consideration for the travelling supporter – in moving a Sunderland away fixture at Bournemouth to 12.30pm on a Saturday. That sort of decision leaves people baffled and annoyed.
Sadly, though, this is the situation we have to deal with and things are not likely to get any better with our (most welcome) involvement in the Europa League.
So it is highly likely that we will be saying goodbye to regular 3pm kick-offs on a Saturday.
But here’s the thing – that 3pm slot on a Saturday remains sacrosanct as far as television is concerned. It is simply not allowed to show live football at that time in England. I know the reason, but I don’t agree with the logic, which goes back to the 1960s and Bob Lord, the Burnley chairman.
UEFA imposes similar restrictions on top-flight matches when Champions League fixtures are taking place, which can also contribute to fixture congestion. League games end up being spread across the week and you are never quite sure where you are in the season compared with other teams, while the league table seems to change daily.
Strangely, though, the final round of matches always kicks off at the same time in the hope that there will be high drama as titles and relegation places swing from one team to another throughout the afternoon.
I would love to have the power to change this. In my mind, it is simple. I would revert to every match kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday and 7.45pm on a Tuesday or Wednesday. All European matches would take place on a Wednesday. The FA Cup would conclude the domestic season after the league campaigns had finished, and I would scrap the League Cup – or, at the very least, not allow Premier League clubs to compete in it.
Midweek games would, wherever possible, be against geographically close opponents, as would Bank Holiday fixtures. This still happens in non-league football, so efforts could be made to make it work throughout the pyramid.
And live television? Well, broadcasters could choose a couple of games per round from each of the four divisions so that the lower leagues receive a share of the limelight, while allowing people to decide what they want to watch. Or perhaps some form of television season ticket could be introduced so supporters could watch their own team regularly.
As you can tell, I have not thought this through fully. These are simply my meandering thoughts on a thorny issue.
The one thing I am absolutely clear on is that all matches should kick off at the same time. Reading people’s memories of their first Sunderland matches only reinforces that belief.
